Toilet seat structure



Jan. 17, 1950 R. HUGHES TOILET SEAT STRUCTURE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 20, 1944 Robert H u hes BY G iz v $5 ATTORNEYS Jan. 17, 1950 R. HUGHES 2,494,813

TOILET SEAT STRUCTURE Filed Sept. 20, 1944 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 V L. i

O (/9 INVENTOR :-'9 5 5.5 Robert Hughes BY 6X4 v 5 l,

ATTORNEYS Jan. 17,, 1950 R. HUGHES TOILET SEAT STRUCTURE 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Sept. 20, 1944 INVENTOR Robert Hughes BY ATTORNEYS Patented Jan. 17, 1950 UNIT ED- STATES PATENT OF F ICE TOILET. SEAT STRUCTURE Robert Hughes, Shaker Heights, Ohio Applicationseptemher 20, ISMgSerial No. 554,913

7 Claims.

This invention relates to an improvement. in toilet seats for infants and children and, more particularly, to a toilet seat which. may be incorporated in the-standard toilet seat structurerand, when not in. use, may serve as the cover for a standard toilet. seat.

Heretofore, the infants and childrenis toilet seats which have enjoyed. the widest commercial sale. were separate. auxiliary seatsdesigned to fit on the opening of the standard toilet seat and having. pivoted arms and aback which permitted the auxiliary seat to be collapsed when not in use. While such seats were a considerable. advance, from the point. of convenience, over the prior infants commodasuch. auxiliary seats had many disadvantages which this invention advantageously overcomes.

The principal. disadvantage of the prior art auxiliary infants toilet seats is that they had to be removed after. use and, consequently, were secured by frictional means which; gripped the inner. rim of the adult. toilet seat upon which the auxiliary separate seat was placed; as a. result,

the auxiliary seats clutteredthe bathroom in which the toilet was located; the mother was often faced with the: choice of trying. to juggle both the infant and the auxiliary seat while put-- ting the seat in place of making two trips to the bathroom, one to put the auxiliary seat in place and theother to take the. infant to the bathroom; the frictional means for holding the auxiliary seat on the adult seat eventually ruined the finish of the adult seat; and, still further, the frictional means for holding the auxiliary seat were not secure, so that a restless or active child could bounce until the auxiliary seat became disconnected, pitching. the child and seat on the bathroom floor and thereby possibly injuring the child .and, in any event, so frightening the child. that the training period wasgreatly prolonged or postponed.

I have overcome the foregoing disadvantages by providing, in place of the usual lid on an adult toilet seat, an improved lid which. is comprised of two halves pivoted along a horizontal axis parallel to the axis on which the seat and lid are usually 'ivoted. When the two halves are closed together, the lid is no thicker than the usual lid, when open, the upper half serves as a back and the lower half serves as a seat for the infant's toilet seat. When not in use, the infants seat does not clutter the bathroom. By suitable locking means, the seat may be conveniently opened with one hand, thus permitting the mother to open the seat while holding the baby, and yet when closed, the infants. toilet seat cannotbe accidentally opened. The adult seatisinever. inlured; And finally;. the infantfs toilet seat is securely and substantially permanently fastened. to the toilet and. the infant may be securely held in the seats Three: or more section toilet seats, in which one section constituted an infant"s toilet seat, have been proposed. heretofore. butno such proposed structures have. provided more than. a few of the foregoing advantages and have possessed-,, instead disadvantages which worked against their actual successful. use.

Another object of my invention. to. provide a permanently attached automatic urine guard or deflector which is in an operative position. when theseat is muse and in an inoperative position when the seat is not in use.

A still further object of my invention isto provide safety means which will securely hold. an infant on the seat and a locking means therefor which is automatically closed but can be opened only by coordinated movements readily madeby an adult but generally impossible for a childuntil the child is sufficiently advanced to needino guard to prevent it from falling ofi the seat.

Other and further objects and advantages of this-invention will be apparent fromthe following specification, claims, and drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a device made according tothis invention in an opened position to provide achilds toilet seat- Fig. 2 is a sideelevation of. the childs toilet seat shown inFig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary detail vertical section of adevice madeaccording to this invention show. ing the childs toilet seat being partly closed.

Fig. 4 is a plan view, partly broken away,.show ing the device of Fig. 1 closed toform alid.

Fig. 5 is a detail side elevation of the device shown in Fig. 4; partly opened.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary detail, partly in sec tion, of the hinge: preferably employed in. this invention.

Fig. 7 is a vertical section taken along. the line 1 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a vertical section taken along the line B-8 of Fig. 6-.

Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 8, but taken with the seat open, as in Fig. 1.

Fig. 10 is. a detail plan view of the loclc employed in mysafety bar.

Fig. 11 is a vertical section, partly broken. away, taken along the: line lll ll of. Figs. 10.

Fig. l2is a horizontal section taken along the line l2--l 2 of Fig. 11.

Fig. 13 is a detail plan View of the keeper slot in the end of the arm.

Fig. 14 is a detail elevation of the bolt in the lock shown in Figs. 10 and 11, said elevation being taken from the plane l t-l4 of Fig. 11 perpendicular to the planes of illustration of Figs. 10 and 11.

In the drawings, l is a conventional toilet bowl upon which is hingedly mounted the usual adult seat 5 and a lid I made according to this invention. As shown in the drawings, the hinge for the seat and lid Ill comprises a horizontal pin 2 supported by the trunnions 3 bolted to the bowl I. The seat 5 is pivoted on the hinge pin 2 by means of a bell crank 4 screwed to the underside of the seat 5 and the lid H] is similarly mounted on the pin 2 by means of the crank arm 6. This hinge construction is substantially standard and any similar hinge and mounting means may be employed.

The lid It is comprised of two substantially congruent horizontal halves, a seat and seat back 38, joined by a special locking hinge 40 mounted on the seat 30, said hinge 40 having an axis parallel to the pin 2 and having hinge plates 4| secured in the seat back 30. As shown in Fig. '2, when the lid in is closed, it is possible for the lid ill to be of about the same thickness as the conventional toilet seat lid and to have substantially the same appearance.

The seat 20, having a suitably sized opening 25, carries on either side a pair of metal straps 2| and 22 hinged in suitable recesses 23 and 24 to swing from a substantially upright position forwardly to a horizontal position. The seat back 3i] carries a pair of metal arms 3| and 32 hinged in suitable recesses 33 and 34 in the seat back 30. The arms 3| and 32 are hinged to the straps 2| and 22, respectively, rearwardly of the forward ends of the arms 3| and 32, so that the arms are raised when the childs toilet seat is opened and are collapsed into the corresponding recesses when the childs seat is closed to form the lid Ill.

The forward end of the arm 32 carries the pivotally mounted arcuate safety bar 35, i. e. a forwardly bowed restraining bar, which may be swung open, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, or closed, as shown in solid lines, to lock a child on the seat by means of the lock 60 which latches in a keeper slot in the forward end of the arm 3|. The seat 20 and back are provided with suitable arcuate recesses 26 and 36 to receive the safety bar when the safety bar is locked and the seat is closed. Additional recesses 21 and 28 are provided in the seat 20 for the pins of the hinges securing the arms 3| and 32 to the back 30 and recesses 29 and 39 are provided in the seat and back, respectively, to receive the vertically projecting portions of the lock 60.

From the foregoing, it should be apparent that the back 30 may be tightly closed upon the seat 20 to form the lid Ill, the several recesses accommodating the arms and safety bar structure when the seat is closed. Welded or otherwise secured to the underside of one or both of the arms 3| and 32 is one or a pair of slightly sprung leaf springs 31 which are placed under load when the seat is fully closed by engaging the corresponding straps 2| and/or 22 so that the lid l0 tends to be sprung open, as shown in Fig. 5.

The special locking hinge 40 comprises a block 43 suitably secured to the seat 20 (as shown in Fig. 3) and having a height substantially equal 4 to the thickness of seat back 30 so that, when closed, the upper surface of the block 43 will be flush with the top of the lid (as shown in Figs. 2, 7, and 9.) The block 43 carries a pair of buried hinge pins 44 parallel to the pin 2 upon which the arms 45 of the hinge plates 4! are pivotally mounted, the block 43 being suitably recessed to accommodate the pivoted ends of the arms 45 and the back 39. is slotted to accommodate the balance'of the arms 535. Between the recesses for the arms 45, the block 43 is provided with an axially extending bearing slot 46 in which is journaled oppositely disposed L- 'shaped members, each comprised of a tang 41 and gripping trigger 48, the trigger portions 48 being accommodated in oversize rearwardly extending slots 49 to permit the ends of the triggers to protrude rearwardly of the block 43. A compression spring 59,..accommodated in a slot 5i normally urges the triggers 48 away from each other and the tangs 41 into engagement with the hinge arms 45.

The inner surfaces of the hinge arms 45 are provided adjacent their pivoted ends with relatively deep keeper slots 52 into which the ends of the tangs 47 will project when the lid halves are tightly closed together, thus locking the members 20 and 39 tightly together to form the lid [0. At a slightly obtuse angle to the keeper slots are the relatively shallow, slightly curved, detent recesses 53 into which the tangs 41 will be projected when the seat back 30 is raised. Thus, when the childs seat is closed, it can only be opened by reaching to the rear of the seat and pressing the triggers 48 together to withdraw the tangs 4'! from the keeper slots 52. Due to the action of the spring or springs 31, when the tangs 47 are withdrawn from the keeper slots 52, the seat will be sprung to the slightly open position shown in Fig. 5 so that, upon release of the triggers 48, the tangs will not be in alignment with the keeper slots 52. To fully open the childs seat, the seat back 39 is lifted until it is swung slightly past vertical, whereupon the tangs 4'! are projected into the detent recesses 53 to firmly, but not positively, latch the seat back in its raised position. To close the childs seat, a firm pull is exerted on the upper edge of the raised seat back, suificient leverage being obtained to allow the shallow, curved detent recesses 53 to earn the tangs 47 together against the pressure of the spring 54!, thus releasing the seat back 30 and allowing it to be swung forward and down to the closed position. When the seat cover is returned to the position shown in Fig. 5, firm pressure on the forward end of the seat back 30 will compress the spring 37 and, when the members 2|] and 36 are tightly closed together, as shown in Fig. 2, the spring 58 will project the tangs 41 into the keeper slots 52, again locking the lid l0. From the foregoing, it should be apparent that the childs seat may be opened and closed by a series of operations requiring only one hand to perform and, due to the withdrawn and rearward position of the triggers 48, the lid [0 will not be opened accidentally when the lid is closed. The latching, but not locking, function of the recesses 53 is desirable in that, while the triggers 48 are accessible when the lid [0 is down and closed, when the childs seat is opened, the triggers are relatively inaccessible.

A necessary attachment for the prior art auxiliary seats when used for boys was the wellknown urine deflector which was detachable in auger-s order to permit such auxiliary seats to be collapsed; in practice such deflectors were usually nailed on by the users to prevent loss or misplacement. I have provided a urine deflector which automatically assumes an operative position when the childs seat is in use and, by cooperation with other members of the structure, is placed in a position which permits the seat to be collapsed without detaching the deflector. To provide such an automatic non-detachable deflector, the seat opening 25 extends forwardly to provide a deflector receiving slot 54 in which the deflector 55 is received so that the deflector may lie in the slot 54 and opening 25 when the childs toilet seat is closed. With the forward end of the deflector (in the collapsed position) curved and flush with the forward rim of the seat 20, the deflector is pivoted on a transverse pivot pin 56 extending across the slot 54, the distance from the most forward end of the deflector to the pivot pin 56 being equal or greater than the vertical distance from the pivot ot the safety bar 35 when the safety bar is vertical above the pivot pin as the childs seat is opened or collapsed, as shown in Fig. 3. As shown in Fig. 4, the lower or rearward end of the deflector is paddle-shaped, the paddle being received in the opening 25 when the seat is closed, in order that the center of gravity of the deflector will be located rearwardly of the pivot pin 56. Thus, as shown in Fig. 5, the tendency of the deflector is to automatically assume the operative upright position shown in Fig. l as the seat is opened; as the seat is closed, however, the closed safety bar 35 strikes the top of the deflector and earns it to the horizontal inoperative position shown in Fig. i. The inner or upper face of the deflector is provided with a wide trough 51 to catch and guide urine into the toilet bowl when the deflector is in the operative upright position. The deflector is also provided with a transverse groove .58 corresponding to the recess 26 to accommodate the safety bar 35 when the childs seat is collapsed. To prevent the seat 2i) from being weakened by the slot 5E, a short arcuate plate 59, secured to the underside of the seat 2t, may extend across the forward end of the slot, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4, and the deflector may be provided with a suitable recess 59' to accommodate said plate.

The usual cloth or leather safety strap employed to hold a child in the conventional ;auxiliary seat would be relatively ineffective in automatically operating the deflector 55 and is further objectionable because of the unsatisfactory buckle which is usually employed; the conventional buckle is usually easily detached bothby the mother and the child. In my device, 1 preferably employ a safety lock 60, which is possible in my device because of the rigid safety bar 35. As shown in greater detail in Figs. to 14, the lock 60 comprises a cap 6| secured in the bar 35. Within the cap 6| is slidably and rotatably received the bolt 62 which is also journaled in the bar 35 below the socket 63 in the upper portion of which the cap 6! is received. As shown in Fig. 14, the bolt cup portion 64 and an integral plate portion 65 below the cup portion and a pin portion 66 below the plate portion. As shown in Figs. 11 and 14, the plate portion has a width equal to the diameter of the cup or piston 54, a thickness equal to pin 66, and a height preferably about equal to the thickness of the arm 3|. With the end of the safety bar provided with a slot 61 tore- 62 comprises an upperceive theend of the arm 3 l, the socket 63 extends below the slot 61 and the cap 6| extends down to the slot 61. A compression and torsion spring 68 is received in the cap El and cup .64, one end of the spring being held in a socket in the upper. end of the cap and the other end of the spring. extending through a hole in the cup 64 into an opening 69 cut in a quadrant of the body of the cap 61.. The lower end of the spring, therefore, limits the rotational movement of the bolt 62 in the cap 61 to one-quarter of a turn. The height of the cap 6! permits the bottom of the cup 54 to be raised above the slot Bl. The spring. 68 normally projects the bolt 62 so that the cup 64 extends into the slot 68 and the plate 65 bears against the bottom of the socket 53, as shown in Fig. ll. With the cap 61, bolt 62, and spring 68 assembled as shown in Fig. 11, a knurled knob 16 is pinned to the end of the pin 66.

The end of the arm 31 is provided with a keeper recess for the safety lock comprised of a hole portion 1 I having a diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the cup 64 and a slot '12 having a width slightly greater than the diameter of the pin 66 and the thickness of the plate 65. The forward end of the slot I2 diverges outwardly and the forward end of the arm 3| is oblique to the length of the arm, thereby providing the cammin portion 13, as shown in Fig. 13. The upper surface of the camming portion T3 is also beveled, as shown in Fig. 11.

With the spring 68 normally holding the bolt 62 so that the plate is transverse to the slot 12, as shown in Fig. 10, the lock 60 is opened by simultaneously or in sequence pressing upwardly on the knob Ill to raise the bottom of the cup above the slot 61 and turning the bolt 62 so that the plate 6 5 will pass through the slot 12 to permit the safety bar 35 to be swung outwardly. To close the safety bar from an open position, the bolt 62 may be manipulated or the bar 35 may be swung closed until the plate 65 strikes the camming portion 13 which turns the bolt and, due to the bevel, simultaneously lifts the cup 64 so that the plate 65 turns to enter the slot 12 and the cup 64 rides on the upper surface of the arm 3! until it drops into the hole II, when the plate 65 returns to its transverse position under the influence of the spring 58. Experience has shown that, while the manipu lation of the bolt 62 is convenient for an adult, it requires such cooperation that an infant is incapable of mastering it. The location of the knob 16 below the safety bar 35 and forwardly of the strap ii also renders the knob relatively inaccessible to a child on the seat.

It is to be understood that the foregoing disclosure is the disclosure of the preferred embodiment of my invention. This invention is not limited to the preferred embodiment disclosed, either in whole or in part, but may be modified by those skilled in the art within the scope of the following claims. It is to be further understood that subcombinations herein disclosed, such as the automatic urine deflector or the safety bar and lock, may be used advantageously in the prior art auxiliary seats as well as in the present seat which is substantially permanently secured to the toilet bowl.

What is claimed is:

1. In a toilet seat assembly, two substantially congruent mating halves, a hinge joining said halves and permitting said halves to swing from a closed position in which said halves are superimposed to an open position in which said halves arelapproximately perpendicular to, eachv other, a pair .of linkages carried by said halves and raised to form a pair of arm supports when said one of said linkages, and manually releasable means to lock said obstruction to the other of said linkages, and biasing means in said locking means to require both rotational and axial linear move.- ment of said locking means to release said looking means. l.

2. In a toilet seat for infants, a seat portion having an opening therethrough, a back portion,

vertically above is horizontal. 3. In an back portion,

a spring pressed, manuall retractable tang, and means to guide said tang into either one of said recesses as said link is moved on said pivot as said portions are hinged with respect to each other.

4. In an infants ing a keeper having an opening with a restricted entrance, a slidable and rotatable bolt receivable in said opening, said bolt having a first portion with a minimum dimension greater than the width of said entrance and a second portion with a minimum dimension less than the width of said entrance and a maximum dimension greater than the width of said entrance, and biasing means to project said first portion into said deflector from a vertical to a 6. In a toilet seat for infants, a seat portion having an opening therethrough and a slot opening into said opening, a deflector receivable in said slot, a pivot carrying said deflector, the axis of sald pivot extending transversely of said slot,

7. In a toilet seat for infants, a seat portionhavin an opening therethrough and a slot extendingforwardly of said opening, a pivot having an axis extending transversely of said slot, a deflector mounted on said pivot so that the effective center of gravity of the deflector spaced rearwardly from the axis of the pivot, a lid portion hinged to said seat portion and movable between an open position and a closed position, a pair of arms hingedly mounted on said lid and hinge portions, a restraining member extending between said arms, said restraining member being positioned on said arms to provide a path of movement to intersect the pivotal path of movement of said deflector, whereby, when said seat and lid are moved to their closed position, said restraining member engages and pivots said deflector into said slot and, when said seat and lid are moved to their open position, said defiector may be pivoted out of said slot.

ROBERT HUGHES.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Connor Nov. 23, 1920 Snideman Sept. 12, 1922 Smith Aug. 10, 1926 Fischer Dec. 13, 1927 Cain Sept. 24, 1929 Piper May 10, 1932 Bentz Oct. 13, 1938 Zaio Oct. 29, 1940 

